This is brutal. Watch Ernie Els three putt from one foot:

Not the way you want to start a British Open . Ernie Els' opening shot of the tournament clocked a spectator, and that was only the beginning of a hole to forget. Facing a 1-foot putt for bogey after a bunker shot, he missed. When he went to backhand the double-bogey putt that had rolled further away than his original putt, he missed that too. He eventually got the ball in the hole for a triple-bogey. The good news is: It only can get better from here. 2014 BRITISH OPEN PHOTOS: The best shots of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and more from Royal Liverpool If you're going to miss a backhanded short one, better it be the first hole on Thursday than the 18th hole on Sunday. #Ernie #Open — Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) July 17, 2014 For more news that golfers everywhere are talking about, follow @si_golf on Twitter, like us on Facebook , and subscribe to our YouTube vid...